The Gods Must Be Crazy Movie Analysis

A pilot finished his drink while crop dusting the desert. He did not want to carry it on the flight back so he  opened the window of his plane and dropped it out. The pilot then went on with his life, however the Kalahari Bushmen stopped their lives to admire the gift from the gods. The Bushmen were an isolated population that did not often get gifts from the gods, so this was a special occasion. One perspective is that the worldview of the Kalahari Bushmen did not change when they received the bottle; However the Kalahari Bushmen’s worldview changed drastically because the Kalahari Bushmen started changing their beliefs, the Kalahari Bushmen learned of a material stronger than glass as well as other things, and their society changed drastically.

To start, The Kalahari Bushmen’s beliefs changed to be more scientific and less about their gods because they started to question their gods. Before the Bottle fell out of the sky the Kalahari Bushmen believed that there was no evil in the world. The Kalahari Bushmen believed that everything could be used in some way. For example certain leaves can’t be eaten but they can be used to collect due during the night. The Kalahari Bushmen believed that the gods loved them like children and gave them useful things. When the bottle fell the Kalahari Bushmen started experimenting with the bottle and found it useful for some things but they fought over it.  Soon after the bottle landed the Kalahari Bushmen started to question if their gods made a mistake. The bottle was not useful to the Kalahari Bushmen because there was only one bottle and not many so they fought over it and it became the first evil thing. To conclude the Kalahari Bushmen were negatively impacted due to the bottle making them question their gods for only giving them one bottle. 

Secondly the Kalahari Bushmen gained a lot of knowledge when they got the bottle. Before the bottle was found the Kalahari Bushmen did not have much knowledge. All the knowledge the Kalahari Bushmen needed was for survival. For example the Kalahari Bushmen knew to scrape tubers and squeeze them for water. Another example is that the hardest materials the Kalahari Bushmen knew of were wood and bone. After the bottle was discovered the Kalahari Bushmen gained lots of new knowledge. For Example by blowing on the top of the bottle, music can be made, the bottle was harder than wood or bone, and the bottle could hold water. In summary the Kalahari Bushmen benefited from the knowledge they gained with the bottle.

Lastly the Kalahari Bushmen’s society changed drastically when they got the bottle. Before the bottle fell from the sky the society of the Kalahari Bushmen was a simple one. There were no punishments for anything. The Kalahari Bushmen shared everything with each other and nothing was ever owned, no power was ever healed. After The Kalahari Bushmen came into possession of the bottle their society changed. There was only one bottle so whoever owned it had the most power. When the person with the bottle and therefore the power decided to use the bottle to harm others they were punished. The ability to have the bottle was turned into a privilege. The drastic change in the Kalahari Bushmen’s society was a direct result of the fact that the bottle could not be shared among multiple people at once. To conclude the Kalahari Bushmen’s society lost their carefree way of life for a more strict one.

Ultimately, The Kalahari Bushmen only benefited from the new knowledge they gained from the bottle. The Kalahari Bushmen lost their peaceful way of life and gained a power structure and punishment. The Kalahari bushmen Lost their trust in their gods. The Kalahari Bushmen did not like the gift the gods gave them, so they decided to throw the bottle off the end of the Earth.